1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a molded laying interior material for a vehicle having a decorative layer facing a vehicle compartment and a buffer material layer facing a vehicle body panel.
2. Description of Related Art
Interior materials of various kinds can be laid on an automobile body panel to improve decorative properties and add a touch of class. For example, floor carpets are laid as interior materials on the upper side of the vehicle body panel from a substantially flat floor panel to a toe board that rises upward.
Further, one type of felt can be provided on the rear surface of the floor carpet to improve cushioning ability thereof.
FIG. 18 is an exemplary illustration of an end surface obtained when a floor carpet 910 according to a comparative example is cut along a vertical plane extending in a front-rear direction of an automobile. The floor carpet 910 is formed by post-applying flat felt 913 to a rear surface 912 of a press-molded carpet body 911. The felt 913 is formed by defibrating original material fibers with a defibrator, supplying to a feeder, blending, forming fiber fleece through a carding machine, obtaining a multilayer structure by stacking the fiber fleece layers, interlacing the fibers by kneading or the like, press molding to a required thickness, and cutting to a desired size. In the felt 913 thus formed, constituting fibers 914 are oriented substantially parallel to the felt surface, that is, substantially parallel to the rear surface 912 of the carpet body.
FIG. 19 is an exemplary illustration of a method for manufacturing a floor carpet 920 for a vehicle described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. H6-227305. This manufacturing method uses a thin underlay 931 having rigidity and formed along the shape of a lower mold 932 of a press molding die. The floor carpet 920 is formed by placing a premolded felt layer 925 on the underlay 931, placing the underlay 931 and the felt layer 925 in this state on the lower mold 932, laminating a carpet layer 923 on the felt layer 925, press molding the carpet layer 923 integrally with the felt layer 925 by mating an upper mold 933 with the lower mold 932, and separating the molded floor carpet 920 together with the underlay 931 from the lower mold 932. Felt in which the constituent fibers are oriented parallel to the felt surface is used for the felt layer 925.
The constituent fibers of the felt provided in the aforementioned floor carpet are oriented in the direction perpendicular to the thickness direction, that is, in the direction along the rear surface of the carpet body. Therefore, when an attempt is made to press mold the floor carpet into a deep concavo-convex shape along the upper surface of a vehicle body panel in the thickness direction of the unmolded felt, the felt layer thickness cannot change locally and the felt cannot be deeply drawn to follow the contour of the vehicle body panel. As a result, the floor carpet rises in the curved portions and the vehicle's interior appearance deteriorates.
With the manufacturing method described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. H6-227305, the felt itself is press molded, to a certain degree, into a shape following the upper surface of the vehicle body panel, but the felt layer thickness still cannot be changed locally. It goes without saying that the felt cannot be molded by deep drawing so as to following the shape of the vehicle body panel even when the unmolded felt is placed on an underlay having protrusions and recesses and press molded together with the carpet body.